Flex your power!
Take a look at your home utility bill – electric and gas prices are skyrocketing! It’s no different at Berkeley Lab, where increased utility costs go directly to your lab’s overhead rates. That’s why we ask that you make a special effort to conserve electricity in the workplace. Here are some pointers:

LIGHTS OUT: Turn off lights in any room when lights are no longer needed. Lighting accounts for 5% - 10% of total energy use; multiplied by the number of users in PBD, the potential waste is enormous.
 
COMPUTERS, PHOTOCOPIERS AND PRINTERS: Turn off your desktop computer and all peripherals over weekends, as well as any office photocopiers and printers. Turn off the monitor when you leave your desk for a meeting or overnight. Monitors consume a significant portion of the energy used by PCs. Printers with automatic "power down" features can reduce electricity use by over 65 percent.
  
PERSONAL DRESS: Wear clothing appropriate to the season and weather – lightweight clothing in summer and warmer clothes in winter. Wear layers so you can adapt to varying conditions in your workspace and still be comfortable.

If you have other creative ideas for saving energy, share them with us! pbdwebmaster@lbl.gov

Smart timekeeping
Our DOE contract requires that every employee inputs their time correctly into the LETS timekeeping system each time period. In addition, supervisors are responsible for approving time on line before the sweep. Time that is not entered or approved on line must be reconciled manually, and that’s costly for your programs. Please make every effort to input and approve time on line when you are sent e-mail reminders from the LETS system.

• Biweekly employees should enter time on Fridays
• Monthly employees can enter time as late as five days before end of each month
• Biweekly approvers approve time before noon, each Monday
• Monthly approvers must approve time three days before month end
• All – please remember to release and confirm time after entering it

If you have questions, please contact Regina Mann-McFarlane (rmmcfarlane@lbl.gov, 486-4311).

On being kind to your mother
Minimizing waste is an important aspect of our work at LBNL. Please remember to recycle your used paper, cardboard, bottles and cans, printer cartridges, and batteries by placing them in the appropriate bins around the lab. Ideas on how to minimize waste are always welcome!  Contact Jeff Pelton (jgpelton@lbl.gov, 486-4355) to submit ideas. The LBNL website http://www.lbl.gov/ehs/wastemin has tips on how to minimize waste.